John Cena and his cameo story in season 3 of “The Bear”

A playful take on the alluring celebrity cameo, John Cena's role in “The Bear” is an acquired taste.

The legendary WWE Champion, whose acting credits now include a top superhero in the DC Extended Universe, appears as Carmy's burly cousin Sammy Fak in Season 3, Episode 5, “Kids.” The 6'1″ supporting actor arrives in the seemingly out-of-the-ordinary elite dining epic created by Christopher Storer. nowhere, but it's really just the latest in a series of smart casting choices that make up Cena's understatedly brilliant career.

“Anyone seen a ghost?” Sammy asks, his imposing figure filling the side door of the restaurant.

It's a shocking scene that has drawn cheers and criticism online. Some audiences are excited to see Cena on their favorite TV show. By box office and general reputation, he's a crowd favorite if ever there was one, even among non-wrestling fans. Others, however, have compared the moment to the sometimes meme-like awkwardness of AI-written television. When Sammy first puts his head in The Bear, you could almost mistake it for that TikTok filter. You know, the one that puts Cena's floating head on a green screen and has him ask the timeless question: “Are you sure about this?“

Still, thematically, it's a fitting entry for Sammy, a character whose primary – and perhaps only – job is to introduce the idea of “haunting” for Jeremy Allen White's workaholic boss.

“What’s haunting?” Carmy asks, flanked by Sammy’s genetically impossible brothers, Neil (Matty Matheson) and Theodore (Ricky Staffieri). The brothers argue with their imposing sibling about something off-screen that’s unclear but completely stupid.

“He means “I know he took the SD cards without permission,” Sammy said. “And when he least expects it, I'll do something about it. weird.”

In the context of the show, Sammy's brief appearance helps with two things. First, it gives Neil and Theodore a narrative construct to refer to when they try to fit into Carmy's I-want-they-want-not-they relationship with Claire (Molly Gordon) later in the series, which, given that it's the closest thing to a plot that Season 3 has, we need it.She haunts you, my brother”, Neil insists.)

Second, it gives Matheson and Staffieri one of Hollywood's most brilliant comedic scene partners against whom to work their magic. Heartbreaking through hilarious asides (“And then they told me ALL peanut butter sandwiches had mushrooms in them!“), the trio is entertaining even if they seem mismatched. Sadly, but true, Cena overshadows his character's younger brothers in every sense of the word.

And yet, far from being a prisoner of his heavyweight reputation, Cena knows how to handle the brief moments. The actor has spent the last three decades perfecting the art of playing against his schedule, and he rarely oversteps the mark. Yes, the world-renowned athlete and walking symbol of America established his mainstream success with starring roles in action films like “The Marine” (2006) and continues to bolster the appeal of genre franchises like Universal’s “Fast and Furious.” But it’s Cena’s smaller, more comedic roles that best demonstrate his knack for picking the right projects.

In “Trainwreck” (2015), Cena stars opposite Amy Schumer as a big, sensitive guy named Steven. This is the first time a relationship has been seen in a movie about odd couples, and the Schumer-Cena duo doesn't work unless the script takes Steven's height into account.

“It's hot, but it East “It’s like fucking an ice sculpture,” Amy says the first time we see Cena on screen. Later, when Steven breaks down in tears after being forced to fight a guy in a movie theater because of the mess Schumer’s title implies, the comparison is particularly mean and very funny.

That same year, while flirting with Tina Fey in Sisters, Cena leaned into the inevitable first impression he makes as drug dealer Pazuzu. Flaunting terrifying tattoos and sporting an outfit that would make even the most hardcore bros tremble, this caricature saw Cena launch into a rapid-fire monologue as if he were in a black-market Amy Sherman-Palladino joint.

“What you want? I got ketamine, MDMA, Adderall, Bromo-Dragonfly, heroin, coke, crack, codeinehe begins. Then further on, “I had Molly. I had her sister Sandra. I had big Frank. I had birth control, I had Plan B. I had that morphine from China that they pulled off the market…” and so on, until “I have some Flintstone Gummies if you want.“

Whether Cena plays it nicer or smarter than you might expect, his sense of surprise is part of his enduring appeal as a quintessential talent outside the ring, and it forgives him for almost anything he'd do in something as star-studded as “The Bear.” Last summer, Cena couldn't help but join the legion of stars who appeared for brief stints in Greta Gerwig's “Barbie.” And yet, he ditched the short haircut and macho man look of good old Ken to become more of a Mermaid Ken—glittery tail, flowing blond wig, and all.

At this year’s Oscars, Cena defied the odds once again by presenting the awards for Best Producer and Best Costume Design in the nude. It’s no surprise that Cena’s stunt was not only outrageously funny, but also had a clever hidden meaning as a symbol of protest. In an interview with IndieWire, the show’s costume designer Katja Cahill revealed that the illusion of nudity was a reference to #NakedWithoutUs, a campaign supported by the Costumer Designers Guild to combat the gender pay gap in Hollywood.

“What the hell is Sammy Fak doing here?” asks Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) moments after Cena enters The Bear. The answer is more than you might think.

Season 3 of “The Bear” is now on Hulu.